


Of Coffee And Solitude

by Alice_Writes_Stuff



Series: The Terrible Troupe [2]
Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), All the Wrong Questions - Lemony Snicket
Genre: A spin-off from The Terrible Troupe, Ellington has a fake name, Gen, I decided to write this, I had this idea a while ago, Kinda, and after talking to some of the folks on the VFDiscord
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-22 14:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22617679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_Writes_Stuff/pseuds/Alice_Writes_Stuff
Summary: When eleven-year-old Ainsley Orlando visits the Black Cat Coffee shop, on the corner of Caravan and Parfait, the last person they expect to meet there is a mysterious young woman, with unusual eyebrows and a beret the colour of a raspberry. Nina Parry may appear to be a newcomer to Stain'd-By-The-Sea- but if she is, why does she claim to know the town's most esteemed journalist, and appear to know more about the town's unusual history than she ought to? Are these the wrong questions? Or is there more to Nina Parry than meets the eye?
Series: The Terrible Troupe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1627237
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	Of Coffee And Solitude

**A.N- I had this idea while working on the next chapter of The Terrible Troupe, and while I was three quarters of my way through the All The Wrong Questions books. I hope you guys like it! Don’t forget to read and review!**

Ainsley met Nina Parry the second time they went into the Black Cat Coffee shop. They weren’t supposed to be in there- the place only served coffee, and according to their mother, eleven years old was too young to be drinking that sort of thing.

Even so, that hadn’t stopped them from slipping into the cafe about a week after their first visit, taking a seat at the counter and pressing the button for coffee. The place was empty- not too many places in Stain’d-By-The-Sea could claim that, other than the old library. Thanks to the work of Cleo Knight, the famous chemist, the town had been pulled back from the brink of extinction years ago. Even so, Black Cat Coffee was one of the quieter places.

A small phonograph sat on the counter, and there was a small stack of records beside it. Most of them were old jazz records, but there were one or two more recent ones. Ainsley picked up the first one, popped it into the machine and put the needle in place. Then they climbed back up into their seat, and took a sip of their coffee.

They hadn’t had more than a few mouthfuls, however, when the door to the cafe opened, and their younger sister, Chrissy, came in.

“There you are, Lee!” she said. She was frowning up at Ainsley, and she was probably trying to look intimidating. Trying being the operative part, of course, because Chrissy was only seven, and small for her age. She was dressed in a bright pink sweater and matching skirt, and her long, light brown hair was in pigtails. “Mom says you’re not supposed to be drinking that stuff.”

“It’s good, though!” Ainsley replied, taking a long drink from the mug. “Do you want to try some?” They held out the mug to her. She frowned, but took the mug, and took a tentative sip.

“That’s not good! That’s gross!” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “How can you _drink_ that?”

Before Ainsley could answer, the door opened again. They turned to face the door, fully expecting to see either their older brother or their mother. Instead, a young woman was standing in the doorway. Her red hair was cut in a neat bob, and she was wearing a dark green sweater, a long light blue skirt and a battered old beret, which was almost the exact colour of a raspberry. She was effortlessly glamorous, and Ainsley suddenly felt a bit self-conscious in their dark orange sweater, green skirt and purple leggings.

“I didn’t think anyone would be in here,” she said, closing the door behind her. She glanced at the phonograph. “Who chose the record?” Nervously, Ainsley raised their hand, and she nodded. “Good choice- I loved this song when I was younger.” She walked over to the buttons, and poured herself a mug of coffee.

“My name’s Christine Orlando, but my friends call me Chrissy,” Chrissy informed the woman. “That’s my older sibling, Ainsley.” Ainsley gave the woman another awkward wave.

“My name’s Nina Parry,” the woman replied, smiling at the two siblings. She took a seat a few chairs away from Ainsley, and started looking through the records.

“I’ve never met somebody called Nina before,” Christine observed. “There’s a girl in my class called Nancy, but not one called Nina.”

“Do you two go to school here?” she asked, tilting her head to one side curiously. She had weird eyebrows, Ainsley noticed- they were curvy, like question marks.

“Yeah, of course! We both go to Stain’d-By-The-Sea Elementary School, though our brother’s in middle school now.”

“When did this place get an elementary school?” Nina asked, suspicion mingling with curiosity now.

“It’s only a recent thing,” Ainsley explained. “Most things around here are, actually- except for this place, and I suppose the Stain’d Lighthouse newspaper.” Nina smiled at that.

“The Stain’d Lighthouse? That… wouldn’t happen to be ran by a woman named Moxie Mallahan, would it?” Both children nodded.

“Why? Do you know her?” Ainsley asked.

“I knew her a long time ago, but I doubt she would remember me,” she replied. She pushed her mug of coffee back a little, and propped her elbows on the counter, resting her chin on her hands. “What _happened_ to this town? I came here once, a long time ago, and it was barely even a shadow of what it is today.”

“You must be _really_ old then, Miss Parry! It’s been like this forever!” Chrissy replied. Ainsley sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose, the way they’d seen their mother do sometimes when Chrissy was being especially chaotic.

“Chrissy, don’t be rude,” they replied, then turned to Nina. “It’s not been like this forever- but ever since Cleo Knight came up with her formula for invisible ink, the town has blossomed. They might even try and bring the sea back soon, if things keep improving like this.”

Ainsley had learned about the recent history of Stain’d-By-The-Sea last year in school, and they had seen some of these changes unfolding, like the re-opening of the town’s schools. Chrissy hadn’t, of course, and neither sibling could really claim to remember a version of the town that hadn’t been saved by a famous chemist.

When the family had first moved here, for instance, there had only been one proper diner, named Hungry’s, after the woman who had ran it at the time. Her nephew ran it now, a kind young man named Jake Knight, husband of Cleo Knight.

So many other changes had come to the town since then, of course, but that was one which stuck in Ainsley’s memory, because despite the increased quantity of diners, the popularity of Hungry’s didn’t seem to have been affected, at least not according to their parents.

“Bringing back the sea?” Nina asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “I never thought that would happen, not after...” she trailed off, shaking her head. “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?”

Ainsley waited for her to say something else, to change the subject. They thought about doing that for her, but they couldn’t think of anything. Then, she finished the last of her coffee, set down the mug, then produced a long silver cylinder from her bag and filled that up with coffee.

“Well, I’d better be going. Maybe I’ll see you children again,” she said, and with that, she gave the two Orlando siblings an impenetrable smile and walked out of Black Cat Coffee. It was the last time either of them saw her.


End file.
